The discovery of a fundamental, previously unknown property of microbial nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens that allows electron transport across long distances could revolutionize nanotechnology and bioelectronics.

Many medical devices, ranging from artificial hip joints to dentures and catheters, can come with unwelcome guests â€“ complex communities of microbial pathogens called biofilms that are resistant to the human immune system and antibiotics, thus proving a serious threat to human health. However, researchers may have a new way of looking at biofilms.

Jacinta Conrad, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Houston, likens her research into how bacteria move to "tracking bright spots on a dark background."

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common bacterium that can cause disease in animals and humans. It can be found in soil, water, skin flora, and most man-made environments throughout the world. It thrives in normal or hypoxic atmospheres; due to this it has colonized many natural and artificial environments. It can infect animals with damaged tissue or people with reduced immunity.
Symptoms are generalized inflammation and sepsis. It can be fatal if colonization occurs in critical body organs,...

A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.